Can-heading machine.



L. c. SHARP. CAN HEADING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 22, 1910.

Patented ,4\p1-.28,'1914L 3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

.Wi/WMM f Mg/L@ wm L. C. SHARP.

GAN HEADING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED SEPT. 22, 1910.

va SHEETS-SHEET 2.

L. C. SHARP.

GAN HEADING MACHINE'.

APPLIUATION FILED SEPT. 22, 1910.

1,094,938. Patented Apr. 28,1914.

' 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

r'NITED STATES rnfrENr OFFICE.

LEE C. SHARP, PLATTSMOUTH, NEBRASKA, .ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN CAN'.

i COMPANY, 0F NEW YORK, N. Y., AA ORQPGRATION 0F NEW JERSEY.

CAN-HEADING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

noeaeas.

Patented Apr. 28, 1914.

Application led September 22, 1910. Serial No. 583,174.

To all who/m, t may concern:

Be it known that I LEE C. SHARP, of Plattsmout-h, county of Cass, State of Nebraska, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Can-Heading Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it a pertains to make and use the same.

y invention relates to a machine for clenching heads on can bodies preparatory t-o soldering the same and its primary object is to simplifyl the parts land reduce them in number, wherebydurability and speed in operation is increased.

It is particularly my object to avoid the use of t-he usual converging die sections for clenching the seam, which die sections soon lose their proper relation in practical operation and therefore fail' properlyv to form the seam. l

A further object of the invention is to, provide improved means for automatically ringing the bodies and heads into position for seaming and' to hold them accuratelyI until the seaming tools operate.

The invention involves various other features of importance, all of which will be fully set forth hereinafter and particularlyl pointed out in the claims.

Reference is now had t-o theaccompany-4 ing drawings, which show as an example the preferred form of the invention.

In` these drawings-Figure 1 is a front sectional elevation of the machine; Fig. 2

is a cross-section thereof; Fig. 3 is an en-v larged longitudinal section of the clenching tool. Fig. 4 is a rear end elevation thereof; and Fig. 5 is a sectional plan of the chutes for the. bodies and heads.

The framing of the machine is unimportant, but isl preferably composed of a table 10, mounted on legs 11. he t-able supports a rearwardly extending.'y bracket 12 with a stool 14, directly rearward of the table position. Over this stool and suitably supbodies lie superimposed in the chutes and are free to fall by gravity to the seaming mechanisms. The bars 15 are supported by rods 18 adjustable in boxes 1 9 on the bars and 1n turn adjustably supported in boxes 20 on stanchions 21 which are mounted on the stool 14 or bracket 12. This allows foradjustment of t-he bars 15 toward and from each other to admit of changing the machine to suit cans of different dimensions.

The cans and heads in the chutes bear on and are sustained by the stool 14, and each of them is one by one advanced from the sameto seaming position by a plunger22. This plunger has a. rearwardly disposed sup orting shelf 423 at its upper side which, as t e plunger moves forward to dis lace a body and its two heads, 'passes un er the remaining bodies and heads'and supports the same until the plunger is returned and thereupon the pile of ,bodies and heads is allowed .to falll again upon the stool 14. Said plunger has a stem 24 extending rearward and fastened to an arm 25 on a slide 26 operating horizontally in the bracket 12, and driven through a link 27 and crank disk 28. The crank disk is mounted on a rotary `coun-ter v shaft carried transversely of thel v machine under the bracket 12 and driven by a sprocket gearing 29 from the prime4 These tools comprise transversely disposed hollow bodies 31 with feathers 32 at their v sides mounting them to slide transversely of the machine toward and from each other in guides 33 rising from and supported on the table 10. The tool bodies 3l and their ap purtenances', to' be hereinafter described,

are given 'periodic reciprocating motion through levers 34 articulated to the tool bodies by links`35 and driven by race cams .36 onthe prime mover shaft 30.' The levers 34 are vertically disposed and fulcrumed in brackets 37 depending from the table 10.

lSaid tool bodies 31 are furnished at their operative 'ends with swaging tools 38. These are shaped to correspond to the form of the can and are open to receive the can in the 'manner indicated in Fig. 3, their ini ce terior dimension being exactly equal to the' greatest dimension of the iinished can. The swaging tool 38 is continuous and in one integral section. The can heads as they 'come from the press are in theform as indicated at the left-hand end of the can in Fig. 3, in which there is an indentationv running around'the edge of the head and adapted to receive the end of the can body. By 4referring to Figs.A vl and 5 it` wil1' be seen that the heads from their chutes fall to a position opposite the body. When, thereore, the'heads arep'engagedrwith the body and the swaging tool 38 advances it engages the crimped orkiianged end of the' head and swages the' iange `down uniformly lagainst the side of the can body. Owing tothe continuous form of the swaging tool the same ismade uniform throughout, and does not present irregular points as is common in cans seamed by sectional dies.

Within the swagin tool 38 a backing die is mounted. This is ormed in four. sections (see the dotted lines in Fig. 2 and full lines lin Fig. 3). The backing die 39 corresponds 4to the form of the can (in this instance rectangular) and it is adapted to bear inside of the crimp in the edge of the can head and to be expanded outward against the ange at the time that the swaging tool 38 loperates thereby coacting` with vsaid to`ol to form a tight clencher seam. Said backing die sections 39 are mounted on flexible iingers 40, of which there are four, these being :formed integral-with or suit-ably fastened to the slide 41 mounted within the hollow tool body 3l. The relative motion of the tool body and slide is limited by a pin 42 playing in a slot 43 in the tool body. The .slide is pressed forward by an expansive spring 44 and passing loosely through the slide is a rod 45 having a conical head 46 which'bears between the four backing die sections 39 so that upon relative motion of said head and backing die sections in one direction the backing die sections are forced outward and upon such movement in the other direction the resilient arms 40 are allowed to retract the die sections. In the first movement the die sections are pressed against the seam and; in the second movement said sections are disconnected therefrom. The rod 45 is also adjustably mountedA in the'tool bodies 31 by means of a threaded portionV so that the amount of .expansion of the backing die can be regulated.

- vv-As appears from Fig. -1 of the drawin two crimping tools Aare provided adapted s1- retracted and projected beyond the swaging tool 38. Now as the clenehing tools simultaneously approach the can and its heads, the projecting die sections 39 engage the heads and move them respectively into engagement with the ends of the can bod At this time the parts of the clenching tool's move as a unit, but after the heads are engaged with the body the motion of the die sections is necessarily arrested, causing the tool bodies 31 and rods 45 to move relatively to the slide within the limits of the slot 43,

`the sprin 44 being at this time compressed.

When this movement takes place, two operations follow, namely: the swaging tool 38 embraces the ange on the can head and crimps'it down as described, and the head 4G on the rod 45-moves forward between the die sections and expands the same, forcing them out against the inner side of the liange on the can head and furnishing a backing or support during the operation of the tool 38. The. crimping tools now retract and reassume their inactive position so that the headed can may be fed from the machine and the second operation prepared for.

In order to position the can body relatively to the crimping'tools and to the heads which are to be engaged with the body I provide a justifier in the form of a jaw 47 which is carried on a vertical sliding bar 48 in the table l0 at a position just between the clencher tools. This is raised by a periodic motion by a cam 49 carried on the shaft 30 and acting against a roller 50 on the lower end of the slide bar 48. The jaw 47 is raised sufficiently so that the can body is clamped against two, slightly resilient sta- .tionary jaws O, preferably attached to members l5 and thus pro erly centered. As the can head is movedetween the clenching tools the justifier 47 is raised to engage and position the can and after the tools operate the cam 49 permits the justifier to return to lits'lowered position and allow the discharge of the finished can. The can heads are guided into position by rails 51 located bctween the clenching tools and are supported on the table 10, so that as the swaging tools advance they engage the flexible rails and push them out of the-way permitting the heads to move into engagement with the body as described. When the tools are withdrawn the spring rails return to operative position preparatory to the next operation.

The operations of this machine may be carried on very rapidly owing to the extreme 420 simplicity ofthe moving parts and to the fact that the pinching operation is carried out slowing by the single encircling tool 38,

the die 39 servlng purely as a backing during the operation o this tool. Of course foroperation on round cans. the parts are changed in shape accordingly. The machine may be adapted to cans of any form by merely mak-ing the required shapesin the shape ofthe parts.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

l. A can heading machine having a swaging tool arranged to engage the can head and bend its crimped edge against the'can body, said swaging tool having an integral continuous working surface, and an expansible backing die pressing against the inner side of the seam during the operation of said tool, said tool and die being mounted so as to move simultaneously in the same direction, substantially as specified.

2. In a machine of the character described, in combination: two alined, reciprocating swaging tools, each tool being continuous along its working surface and adapted to embrace the crimped edge of the can head and swage or bend the same inward against the can body; and an expansible die mounted within each of said swaging tools, substantially as specified.

3. A can heading machine having a swaging tool continuous along its working surface and adapted to embrace the crimped edge of the can head and swage or bend the same inward against the can body byv a single operation; an expansible backing die adapted to bear against the inner side of the seam during the operation of the swaging tool; and adjustable means for expanding said expansible die, said means being adapted to regulate the `amount to which the expansible die is expanded, substantially as specied.

4. In a machine of the character described, in combination: a 'pair of alined, reciprocating swaging tools, each ytool being continuous along its working surface and adapted to embrace the crimped edge of a can head and swage or bend the same inward againstthe can body by a single operation; a sectional backing die located within each of said swaging tools and adapted to bear against the inner sides of thev seams during th'e operation of the swaging tools and means for periodically expanding the sections of said dies into activeV positions, substantially as specified.

5. A can heading machine, having a swaging tool arranged to embrace the crimped edge of the head and clench the same against the body, a tool body carrying the tool, mea-ns for slidably mount-ing said body and for periodically sliding it, a backing die arranged to engage the inner side of the seam during the operation of the. swaging tool, means for mounting said die with a limited motion on the tool body and means for yieldingly projecting the die ahead of the tool whereby the die engages the head and moves it to Ithe body and thereupon the swaging tool performs the crimping operation, said backing die being sectional and coacting means for expanding the the action of the swaging tool.

6. A can heading machine, having a swaging tool arranged to encircle the crimped ,I edge of t-he -head and clench the same against the body, a tool body mounting the tool, means for slidably mounting and periodically reciprocating the tool body, a slide within the tool body having limited motion relatively thereto, means for yieldingly projecting the slide forward, a sectional backing die mounted on the slide and an expander carried rigidly by the tool body and arranged to engage and expand the die against the inner side of the seam during it against the body, a hollow tool body carryg5' ing the tool, means for-slidably mounting and periodically reciprocating said body, a slide having limited relative motion to` and within the body, a spring pressing said slide outward, a sectional backing die, 9o

means for yieldingly mounting its sections on the slide and a rod rigidly carried in the body and having a conical expander head `at 'it/s forward end, whereby the die sections project ahead of the swaging tool and first engage' the can head topress it on the-body, and the expander head and swaging tool are subsequently moved together to expand the sectional die against the can head simultaneously with the action of the swaging tool on the edge of the can head.

8. A can heading machine having a solid piece swaging tool arranged to encircle the v crimped edge of the head and clench the same against the body, a sectional backing die arranged to engage the inner side of the seam during the operation of the swaging tool, means for yieldingly ,mounting said sections and an expanderarranged to engage the die sections and expand the die `during the action of the swaging tool.

9. A can heading machine having two clenching, crimp-ing tools reciprocating in a horizontal plane and adapted to operate simultaneously at opposite ends of the can,' 115 a vertical chute for the can and heads located at one side of the crimping tool position, a plunger arranged to move the heads l and 'bodies unit by `unit from the chute to i i thecrimping tool position, and movable in a horizontal plane and a justier periodically movable in a vertical plane for engaging the bodies to position them for the crimping operation.

10. A can heading machine having two clenching, crimping tools adapted to operate simultaneously at opposite ends of the can, a vertical chute for the can and heads located atvone side of the crimping tool position, a plunger arranged to move theleads sections of the die against .the seam during 'A Y i periodica y .engagingt-he bodies to them for the crimpin operation an yielding rails located in t` e path of the crimp' ing tools and arranged to carry the heads, s'md rails giving way to allow the motion Y of the crimping tools.

osition t 'In testimonjf whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of 10 two subscribing witnesses.

LEE C. SHARP. Witnesses DAVID O. BARNEALL, JAMES H. SHORT. 

